Upheaval: Crafting a Culture & Managing Your Message Through a Crisis

2025 Global Book Awards Silver Medalist in Organizational Change

Imagine this: one of the country's top hospital administrators partners with one of the nation's top branding and public relations experts. They joined forces in Naples, Florida, to lead a premiere healthcare organization during a management crisis that split the hospital and the community. But as this crisis boils, another looms.

COVID-19 is bearing down on America, making the conflict in management seem tiny in comparison to this existential threat.

The story that unfolded here took various forms at every one of America’s 2,903 community hospitals. Upheaval offers an inside look as one very attentive community gathered as never before to deal with this life-and-death situation.

Thankfully, management had already begun a new day of openness, community, and physician partnership, and an appeal for confidence and understanding. Other hospitals, once competitors, became eager partners in the face of this threat. The board of trustees was alert and gathered vital community leaders together. Doctors locked arms and braced.

Naples created a pluralistic, collaborative organization just in time. Led by the physicians, a war room strategy developed among all the community providers, and a new spirit of openness and communication, vital in a pandemic, matured.

They quickly got to work engaging the entire community.

It was frightening locking down society, wearing masks, creating isolation rooms, and hitting new lows in employee morale.

Recruitment became difficult. Nurses worked double shifts. The news media covered every chirp, and finances looked bad.

It should not surprise us that Naples, a community that appreciates and admires excellent community healthcare, rallied to their distress call for help.

This community, led capably by the physicians, put together vast resources to confront the constantly changing threat. Luckily, authors Paul Hiltz and Amanda Lucey kept notes, including insights and the courage of the people behind the closed doors of isolated COVID-19 patients.

Those stories are offered here as a management primer on crisis management, allowing the healthcare team’s performance to re-create the brand with their heroism, and as a warning to communities across the country: connect and stay connected with your constituents, because one day, you will need each other desperately.

For over three decades PAUL HILTZ, FACHE, has served as a symbol for innovative leadership within the healthcare industry. Today, he serves as the CEO and President of Naples Comprehensive Health in Naples, FL, recognized as one of the nation's top 100 healthcare systems. Prior to joining NCH in 2019, Paul served as the President and CEO of Mercy Medical Center. His commitment has always been clear, maintaining the highest standards in clinical quality and patient satisfaction.

AMANDA LUCEY is CEO of The Partnership, Atlanta’s oldest privately held marketing and brand communications agency, established in 1979. The firm orchestrates integrated solutions across branding, communications, advertising, public relations, crisis management and digital development. The Atlanta, Georgia headquartered agency represents corporate clients spanning Coca-Cola, International Continental Hotel Group, Ferrari, and top healthcare systems, including NCH.

Amanda is a change agent. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Amanda's expertise in navigating change and crisis communication became invaluable to brands. She’s one of the leading crisis communications and media training experts in the nation. Amanda resides in Atlanta and Naples, Florida.